Amid Modi Wave, How Captain Amarinder Singh Held His 'Fort' in Punjab
However, Amarinder Singh has let it be known that he is not satisfied with his party performance in state's urban pockets.
File photo of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Loading...
Chandigarh: Punjab proved to be the only face-saver for the Congress in the parliamentary elections in north India, with two-time Chief Minister Amarinder Singh securing victory for his party in eight out of the state's 13 Lok Sabha seats.
Defying the BJP's anti-dynasty tirade, the Punjab Chief Minister managed to secure a fourth term for his wife Preneet Kaur from Patiala. Preneet Kaur defeated her Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine's Surjit Singh Rakhra by record margin of 162,718 votes.
However, Amarinder Singh has let it be known that he is not satisfied with his party performance in state's urban pockets. Without mincing words, he even recommended a change in the portfolio of Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to ensure speedy compliance of development projects.
The Chief Minister said the urban vote bank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu's failure to do any development work had impacted the party, which had performed well in the rural areas this time.
Ahead of the elections, he had categorically told his ministers and legislators to work for party candidates, failing which there may be repercussions on the composition of the Cabinet.
Political observers believe Amarinder Singh used his former Army background to effectively counter Prime Minister Modi's nationalism and national security agenda and it worked in his favour because fellow 'faujis' (armymen) associated with his message.
His promise of a memorial in Bargari for the 2015 Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing victims also put the former SAD-BJP combine government in a spot. And shrewd Amarinder Singh time and again raked up the sacrilege incidents during the elections.
"The poll results clearly indicate the voters have not forgotten sacrilege incidents that hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs during the SAD-BJP government stint in 2015," a political observer told IANS.
His handling of the issue of the 1984 riots, by condemning it publicly, also helped counter the polarisation of votes
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)
Defying the BJP's anti-dynasty tirade, the Punjab Chief Minister managed to secure a fourth term for his wife Preneet Kaur from Patiala. Preneet Kaur defeated her Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine's Surjit Singh Rakhra by record margin of 162,718 votes.
However, Amarinder Singh has let it be known that he is not satisfied with his party performance in state's urban pockets. Without mincing words, he even recommended a change in the portfolio of Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to ensure speedy compliance of development projects.
The Chief Minister said the urban vote bank had been the backbone of the Congress in Punjab but Sidhu's failure to do any development work had impacted the party, which had performed well in the rural areas this time.
Ahead of the elections, he had categorically told his ministers and legislators to work for party candidates, failing which there may be repercussions on the composition of the Cabinet.
Political observers believe Amarinder Singh used his former Army background to effectively counter Prime Minister Modi's nationalism and national security agenda and it worked in his favour because fellow 'faujis' (armymen) associated with his message.
His promise of a memorial in Bargari for the 2015 Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing victims also put the former SAD-BJP combine government in a spot. And shrewd Amarinder Singh time and again raked up the sacrilege incidents during the elections.
"The poll results clearly indicate the voters have not forgotten sacrilege incidents that hurt the sentiments of the Sikhs during the SAD-BJP government stint in 2015," a political observer told IANS.
His handling of the issue of the 1984 riots, by condemning it publicly, also helped counter the polarisation of votes
(Get detailed and live results of each and every seat in the Lok Sabha elections and state Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim to know which candidate/party is leading or trailing and to know who has won and who has lost and by what margin. Our one-of-its-kind Election Analytics Centre lets you don a psephologist’s hat and turn into an election expert. Know interesting facts and trivia about the elections and see our informative graphics. Elections = News18)